Month: March 2019

“Why would I visit a place dedicated to Harley-Davidson motorcycles? I don’t even like motorcycles!”

Exploring Milwaukee won’t be complete without a sojourn to the iconic museum. More than just an excursion of sentiment for motorcycle fans, the Harley Davidson Museum is an experience in American history.

Walking through the park-like 20 acres in downtown Milwaukee, the Harley Davidson Museum is filled with classic, even legendary, machines, including the Harley owned by Elvis and the oldest
known Harley Davidson Motorcycle in existence (Serial #1). As a visitor, you’ll see an unparalleled collection of motorcycles and memorabilia like a private archive that offers tours. There are layers of advertisements from different eras for the graphic design geeks. And truly, the highlight for many is the Experience Gallery, where visitors can choose from a diverse collection of bikes to touch, admire, and pose for photos on.

The campus, in addition to the rich cultural experience of the museum, also includes a café, restaurant, and retail store, as well as a manicured outdoor space.

The Sunday evening social event for our Midwest MLA Chapter Conference will be dinner and exploration of the museum. Extra tickets are available for purchase to bring along a guest for dinner. All dinner attendees will receive an additional complimentary ticket to the Harley Davidson Museum to return and investigate at their leisure.

Superheros, villains, and fantastical characters are all well represented in comics. But what about us regular folks, where do we show up? One of those areas of comics and graphic novels is the growing genre of graphic medicine.

First used by Dr. Ian Williams, himself a practicing physician and comic artist, in the late 2000’s, graphic medicine aims to draw back the veil at the “intersection of comics and healthcare”. It’s about you and me. More specifically it deals with the health issues we face from infertility to cancer and Parkinson’s disease. It deals with aging and having to put our parents in nursing homes, and it tells stories of nurses, doctors, and other health care providers learning how to cope with the ups and downs of taking care of others. It deals with the nitty gritty of an abusive family and sudden death of a child.